So, you wanna know the real reason I've actually started posting stuff here? It's because I couldn't create a blog called "A Roguish Chrestomathy" and leave it empty. The name is just too good to go to waste. But it requires, I think, a bit of explanation.

Roguish Chrestomathy FUQ

Q: Is roguish chrestomathy a Googlewhack?

A: No.

Q: Is roguish like roguelike?

A: No.

Q: So where did this splendid name come from?

Warning: Unicode ahead

A: The inspiration actually came from a Czech literature course I took as an undergrad. We were reading (and translating) a story by Milan Kundera, and I came across the phrase uliční výbor. Now, what this really means is sort of a Communist version of "neighbourhood watch"—a group of people expected to rat one another out to the government for any apparent counter-revolutionary activities.

But I didn't know this, and so I valiantly tried to translate it word-by word. Now, uliční is an adjective derived from the noun ulice ('street'), and výbor in this context means 'committee.' But uliční wasn't in my trusty little Czech-English dictionary, so I took a guess and decided it must be related to uličník, which means 'rogue.' And then výbor can refer either to a collection of people ('committee') or to a collection of writings ('anthology, chrestomathy'). Neither one entirely made sense to me in the context, so I flipped a coin and went with the latter. Hence "roguish chrestomathy."

The prof was, at least, amused.